Peerless Water Color Complete Edition Book - Dry Book

Peerless makes the world's most brilliant, vibrant colours. Developed in 1885 by Charles F. Nicholson.

The smart idea of these dry books is that each sheet of the Water Colour book is a special paper fabric coated with a dense layer of highly concentrated and rich, vibrant colour.

These sheets have a myriad of uses and are ideal for colouring black & white prints, retouching colour photographs and slides and artists in general.

To activate the colours, you touch the sheet with a damp brush or cotton swab, and the colour magically changes state to a liquid for immediate use. You could alternatively cut off a small piece, dissolve it with water and the mix together in your palette Either way; you will marvel at the colour as it comes to life.

They are an excellent alternative to liquid retouching dyes

They will not fade and or change colour when heated

You can use colours individually or in combination with others

Colours are acid-free, and 100% non-toxic with no pigments dyes included

Use for colour or black and white spotting, retouching of prints or slides

Each one is 6.35 x 16.50 cm (2 ½ inches x 6 ½ inches) and comes with full instructions.

Peerless dyes are archivally safe. Here is the history and use of their dyes in the last 100 years.

Nicholson’s Peerless Transparent Watercolors were created for photo tinting, dry spotting, lamp tinting and photo repair. Back in the early 1900’s, before colour photography, Peerless was one of the only known methods of adding colour to photographs. Somewhere before 1920, Chas. F. Nicholson moved from New York, NY to work alongside the Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester NY. The two businesses worked side by side for many, many years. You will notice that the cover of the Complete Edition Booklet is Kodak Yellow - precisely because of that period and their close business relationship.

Peerless have photos that were coloured during that time frame that are still in perfect shape. The lightfastness of the Peerless Colors on photographic paper is outstanding! No fading has been determined. They also supply their colours to the Art Institute and other historical facilities as a product for photo restoration.

Running across tinted portraits in the antique store is still fun. You will sometimes see the face appearing orange. That is how artists interpreted flesh colour during that period. That is why their Flesh Tint colour is more orange than the colour we identify as flesh tone today.

The only photographs Peerless colours do not work well with are the prints that are spit out of a self-serve photo booth. That photographic paper has a plastic surface that does not allow colour penetration.

All returns for purchased items are covered in our Customer Service section below under the sub-headings of Cancellation, Replacement and Terms and Conditions.
Our returns policy is fully compliant with UK Online and Consumer Contracts Regulations (updated October 2015).

Most orders incur a total order delivery charge of £7.99 including VAT for mainland UK delivery. All goods are shipped by courier services. The companies we use are DPD or UK Mail and parcels are delivered in 48 hours or sooner from date of despatch. Exceptions to this, including lower delivery charges, can be found in the Information section for Delivery at the bottom this page.

Peerless makes the world's most brilliant, vibrant colours. Developed in 1885 by Charles F. Nicholson.

The smart idea of these dry books is that each sheet of the Water Colour book is a special paper fabric coated with a dense layer of highly concentrated and rich, vibrant colour.

These sheets have a myriad of uses and are ideal for colouring black & white prints, retouching colour photographs and slides and artists in general.

To activate the colours, you touch the sheet with a damp brush or cotton swab, and the colour magically changes state to a liquid for immediate use. You could alternatively cut off a small piece, dissolve it with water and the mix together in your palette Either way; you will marvel at the colour as it comes to life.

They are an excellent alternative to liquid retouching dyes

They will not fade and or change colour when heated

You can use colours individually or in combination with others

Colours are acid-free, and 100% non-toxic with no pigments dyes included

Use for colour or black and white spotting, retouching of prints or slides

Each one is 6.35 x 16.50 cm (2 ½ inches x 6 ½ inches) and comes with full instructions.

Peerless dyes are archivally safe. Here is the history and use of their dyes in the last 100 years.

Nicholson’s Peerless Transparent Watercolors were created for photo tinting, dry spotting, lamp tinting and photo repair. Back in the early 1900’s, before colour photography, Peerless was one of the only known methods of adding colour to photographs. Somewhere before 1920, Chas. F. Nicholson moved from New York, NY to work alongside the Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester NY. The two businesses worked side by side for many, many years. You will notice that the cover of the Complete Edition Booklet is Kodak Yellow - precisely because of that period and their close business relationship.

Peerless have photos that were coloured during that time frame that are still in perfect shape. The lightfastness of the Peerless Colors on photographic paper is outstanding! No fading has been determined. They also supply their colours to the Art Institute and other historical facilities as a product for photo restoration.

Running across tinted portraits in the antique store is still fun. You will sometimes see the face appearing orange. That is how artists interpreted flesh colour during that period. That is why their Flesh Tint colour is more orange than the colour we identify as flesh tone today.

The only photographs Peerless colours do not work well with are the prints that are spit out of a self-serve photo booth. That photographic paper has a plastic surface that does not allow colour penetration.

All returns for purchased items are covered in our Customer Service section below under the sub-headings of Cancellation, Replacement and Terms and Conditions.
Our returns policy is fully compliant with UK Online and Consumer Contracts Regulations (updated October 2015).

Most orders incur a total order delivery charge of £7.99 including VAT for mainland UK delivery. All goods are shipped by courier services. The companies we use are DPD or UK Mail and parcels are delivered in 48 hours or sooner from date of despatch. Exceptions to this, including lower delivery charges, can be found in the Information section for Delivery at the bottom this page.